I didn't and still don't know if I can do these 2 dogs justice with words alone. But I'll try simply by telling their story.
Have you ever seen 2 dogs so bonded... so bonded they sleep together, curled up, one using the other as a pillow, so bonded they eat together, with one always just a step behind the other, ready to play, to gently jump on its buddy, to mouth, roll around and have a lot of good ol' doggy playtime fun?
This is how Chachi and Chichi were, extremely bonded. Chachi, the daughter, was always gently bouncing on her mom to provoke play. Her mom relished in the love and attention of her daughter. This dynamic duo caught my eye the very minute I laid eyes on them. I'll never forget it, they were sleeping together in a kennel run about half way down the N runs (for those of you that know the MDAS floor layout), Chachi using her mom's hip as her pillow. I bent down quietly and snapped a few photos, ready to network to try to get these precious girls out of the shelter alive.
Over the next few days I got to know their delightful, carefree personalities and watching them play together, sleep together, witnessing their innocent, simple love warmed me to my very core.
I sent out an email blast with their story: they had been picked up on the side of a highway together. They were a bonded pair and ideally should be fostered or adopted together. After their stray wait nothing would be 'guaranteed' for them. -That's the essence of what my email blast stated, accompanied with their precious photos.
So, I got a hit. A lovely, professional lady named Maria contacted me stating she may be willing to foster both dogs. If memory serves she was the same lady that had found the dogs on the side of the highway. She had rescued them from that awful place and taken them to the shelter. She had been following their progress at the shelter, checking in to see if either had any interested adopter. Some way or another Maria found me or I found her, whether it was thru the email blast or not, I do not recall. Maria made it clear she didn't want the dogs to die there and that, as a last resort, she'd foster them. Maria already had a few dogs at home along with a husband that didn't exactly want more dogs in the home so this was to be a 'last option' for Chachi and Chichi.
Days went by and nothing, nothing other than Maria's 'last option' that is for Chachi and Chichi. So, I emailed her, letting her know they'd need to go to foster care a.s.a.p. or face an uncertain future at the shelter. At this point in time it was unusual for a dog to be at Animal Services for more than 3 weeks... if they weren't walking out the door by around that time (with an adopter, foster or rescue) they'd be carried out the door in black garbage bags. -Euthanasia is a reality in high intake shelters. Space and incoming animals are always issues.
Maria said, "yes," but that she'd need to figure out a way to break the news to her hubby that 2 more doggies would be in the house for a while... she was going to be really sweet to him if memory serves.
We worked up Chachi and Chichi to leave on foster care. 'Working up' the dogs consists of micro-chipping them, running blood work and sterilization if it's feasible contingent on animal's condition at the time of departure. So, at the time of blood work fingers are always crossed, breath held. In South Florida heart worm disease is prevalent and, at times, fosters or adopters back out upon discovering a dog in heart worm positive and will need treatment for several weeks, if not months. The good news- Chachi and Chichi didn't have heart worm. The bad news- they did test positive for ehrlichia, a disease of the blood transmitted by a tick bite. It is treatable with antibiotics but, again, this was a breath-holding, "damn it!" fist-hitting-the-counter moment for me. I'd have to break the news to Maria she'd need to pay for and administer antibiotics to the dynamic duo for several weeks. It was an obstacle. Luckily Maria hesitantly agreed to still take on Chachi and Chichi. -A heck of a woman that Maria.
So, hallelujah! Relief, humility and joy briefly graced my psyche. These 2 kindred spirits had a plan in place, we'd network them and take them to events to find them a permanent home while she fostered. Maria was scheduled to pick up Chachi and Chichi on a Wednesday we'll say. I was ecstatic the day of the pick up... these are moments you live for, moments that keep you going when working in a shelter.
I went to visit Chachi and Chichi and, Chachi wasn't there. He was nowhere to be found. The dogs had been moved around in different kennels and I was immediately panic-stricken and angry. -How could this be happening? I had worked so hard. These dogs were going to beat the odds... now where was the daughter dog?!
I searched that place up, down and all around. She wasn't there. I beckoned the help of the kennel manager immediately. He reviewed euth records to see if she had accidentally been put down, it didn't seem that had happened.
When Maria arrived I felt ashamed and embarrassed to break the news to her that Chachi the daughter was 'missing.' She was outraged and confused.
"She couldn't have been put to sleep could she?" she asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and lifted my eyebrows which meant I didn't know... I did not know.
I did know we weren't going to let this rest.
A week went by, perhaps a few days more than a week.
Chachi was 'found.' She had been taken to a nearby kennel that housed our dogs awaiting transport. She was wrongly taken to the kennel, thought to be a transport dog.
Can you imagine the confusion Chachi endured? She was pulled from her mother by a stranger (kennel worker), loaded into a van with a bunch of other dogs, taken to another kennel, only to sit there for days on end, day in and day out, with no exercise or socialization time until she was 'found,' and brought back to the original kennel, Miami Dade Animal Services, but this time she didn't have her kindred spirit with whom to romp, sleep or play. When Chachi returned to MDAS she was somewhat of a different dog. She was clearly agitated, jumping on the fence a lot more, barking more. She seemed confused, frustrated and desperate... who wouldn't be. This dog had been through so much. I was angry and devastated knowing Chachi's innocence had been robbed. Her playful, carefree puppy side was virtually a shadow of her past.
Immediately upon discovering Chachi's whereabouts I contacted Maria, the foster. She couldn't take Chachi now. She explained that if she had brought them both home together she could have smoothed it over with her husband but now... she simply couldn't do it. I empathized. None of this was her fault in the first place. She had been the only person able and willing to help these girls to begin with.
She was outraged by what happened with Chachi and wrote the director an email detailing the event and her frustration. -That didn't change anything. It didn't change the fact that I had a dog here now with a sickness and that didn't 'show well' in her kennel due to her anxiety. -Not an easy scenario. I notated on her file that she should be given another 5 day stray wait since she was misplaced for several days. That was granted; she was given another 5 days. In that time I tried to offer her some sense of solace. And I networked her and the urgency of her situation. I am ashamed to admit I didn't have it in me to get her out to play much. I did not have a good feeling about how this would turn out and I couldn't bare to get too close to her again. This whole thing had been beyond heartbreaking and enraging. Bless her sweet, innocent heart. She did nothing to deserve all of this.
On Chachi's new due out date (due to 5 day extension) -she was euthanized.
If somehow, someway, Chichi's foster sees and reads this blog, I'd love to hear from her.
Chichi and Chachi photographed by then-volunteer photographer, Walter Chacon, at MDAS, this photo courtesy of UDOM
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| Chachi, still had her pic in personal email This is an old email I had sent out to try to get Chachi out in time... From: Pita, Jessica (ASD) [JPITA@miamidade.gov] Sent: Friday, November 08, 2013 3:00 PM To: (names deleted for privacy) Cc: mercy0928 Subject: Chachi- one I told you about- 1565069 Bulldog Lovers... [cid:image003.jpg@01CEDC93. Chachi is an 11 month old bundle of love! She was picked up off the side of the expressway with her mommy. Her mommy, Chichi, is in foster care. However Chachi was due out 10-29 and has no plan in place or anyone interested in her yet. She's a great dog, generally has a calm disposition and is good with other dogs! Please promote for adoption or rescue... she has ehrlichia which we're treating. [Description: cid:image007.jpg@01CE6374. Jessica L. Pita Adoption Counselor Miami Dade Animal Services Make Adoption your Only Option! *Adopt *Spay and Neuter *Spread the word!
Lastly, this post is titled, "No Room For Mistakes" because, when working in an animal shelter you cannot make mistakes. Period. Your mistake can cost a pet its life, as was the case with sweet Chachi. She was a bubbly, fun-loving girl that was dealt a really shitty hand. All because someone took her somewhere she didn't belong the day before she was scheduled to leave on foster care. In my opinion that person should have been fired. A life was lost due to his carelessness. When lives are on the line there's just no room for mistakes. Period.
After sharing this post w one of my dear friends/UDOM admins she sent me the link to where UDOM had shared Chachi and Chichi on UDOM (Urgent Dogs of Miami- facebook) from 2 years ago. That really made it all hit home again. I'm pasting it all here... in memory of Chachi... and so folks can get an even deeper look into how these things can play out. It is nice to be reminded that many people knew who Chachi was and many were hoping and praying she'd make it out alive. Thank you to all of those people that participate in rescue, no matter how big or how small your gesture... it matters.
CHICHI (A1565068) & CHACHI (A1565069)
— withDebbie Taylor Darino, Vicki Fuoco DeLuca, Lynne Hendricks and 20 others at Miami Dade County Animal Services.CHICHI (A1565068) I am a female brown and white Pointer and American Bulldog. The shelter staff think I am about 2 years old and I weigh 64 pounds.... See More |
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